HILLSBORO -- Hillsboro issued $12 million in full faith and credit bonds late Wednesday to pay for the Hillsboro Hops stadium already under construction at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex.

The City Council approved the bond sale Oct. 16. The 4,500-seat baseball stadium is expected to cost $15.2 million to build. The remaining cost is covered by money generated from the sale of city-owned property.

The bonds have a 2.74 percent interest rate, according to a city release. That's much less than the city's projected rate of 4.52 percent.

The 20-year lease agreement with the Hops includes a $150,000 annual rent payments with a 3 percent annual increase, $1 ticket surcharge, parking fees, and a yet to be completed naming rights deal.

The rating agency assigned the bond deal a "Aa3 rating," the same rating the city has had for several years. The rating is Moody's fourth highest rating.

Jacobson said future ratings would consider risks associated to both construction and operation of the baseball stadium. He said the city's current $56 million debt obligation and recent dependence on non-voter approved full faith and credit bonds wasn't a significant factor in assigning a rating. "I would say since the rating hasn't changed, we don't consider that a major concern," Jacobson said. "We'll be watching it."

The Hops, a Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are scheduled to play a 38-game home schedule starting in June 2013.